Thanks to the overwhelming success he’s experienced since making the jump to Hollywood, any wrestler-turned-actor that finds even a moderate amount of joy in the acting business is destined to be compared to Dwayne Johnson. However, Dave Bautista wants absolutely nothing to do with it.
While their paths didn’t cross directly, fellow WWE alumni John Cena followed his former in-ring rival by notching up roles in both the DCU and the Fast & Furious franchise, where comparisons were inevitably set to follow. On the other side of the coin, Bautista just wants to be a respected thespian, which is one of the major reasons why he’s departing the Marvel Cinematic Universe after this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Bautista could have emulated the man he appears to have no respect for, though, after admitting in 2021 that was offered the chance to join The Fast Saga, but instantly shut it down in favor of pitching a Gears of War movie – something his fans haven’t forgotten after Netflix placed the video game adaptation into development.
Of course, there’s also the small matter of the 53 year-old’s active disdain for the high-octane series, having previously dismissed them as not being good films. When Bautista was offered his Fast & Furious chance, Johnson was still officially part of the ensemble prior to his irreconcilable fallout with figurehead Vin Diesel, so we’ve got the sneaking suspicion that may have played a part in his decision.
When quizzed if he believed The Rock was a good actor, Bautista responded with an emphatic “f*ck no,” so it’s very doubtful we’ll ever see them come face-to-face in the same production.